psychoticstate
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Posts posted by psychoticstate
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I've recently gotten interested in the Lindbergh kidnapping, so I'm reading a couple of books on the subject: The Ghosts of Hopewell, by Jim Fisher, and The Case that Never Dies, by Lloyd C. Gardner. One argues for and one against Hauptman's guilt.
I've read a handful of books on the Lindbergh kidnapping and I've never believed that Hauptman was involved. Regardless, I do think there were far too many questions and certainly reasonable doubt to justify the death penalty.
As a follower of all of the various "Case of the Century" cases from the 20th century, I was really surprised when yesterday's Jeopardy question asking for Hauptman's name didn't even produce a guess from any of the contestants. I was yelling at the tv, "Hauptman! Hauptman!!"
Oy. This makes my brain hurt. How can they NOT know?
I don't know of a good book on the Standford White case but if you enjoy that time period, I would recommend reading "Cast of Killers" by Sidney Kirkpatrick - - all about the 1922 murder of director William Desmond Taylor. And author William Mann came out with a book on the case today too - - "Tinsletown." I'll be buying that!
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This book blew my mind as it laid out one fallacy after another about this tragic event. Journalists just jumped to conclusions and created their own story which was far, far from the truth. I keep it in mind every time I hear about a school shooting or other disaster: never believe anything you hear in the first week or so, even from "trustworthy" sources.
So true. It really was incredible how many half truths and flat out falsehoods were reported to the media and by the media as fact and accepted as such for years.
I've heard the same thing with regard to events like shark attacks - - shark attacks haven't necessarily been on the rise but when it's a slow news summer, the media will bust out coverage a la Summer of the Shark. And the public guzzles it down like poisoned Kool Aid.
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Doesn't Bravo/Andy usually like to run VPR at the same time RHOBH is running?
He always has, Persnickety. Seems the VPR was BH's lead in the first season and then things were flipped up last season with BH leading in. Very surprised that's changed although it does give us a few months more of Lisa Vanderpump's fabulousness.
I can't stand Kristen and yet I'm oddly fascinated by her. She always looks like she was just pulled from the tumble dry cycle of my dryer. From day one I've always been stymied that the Toms (Flat Iron and Schwartz) chose gals that look so sketchy. Katie is okay, I guess, except for that crazy hair last season. But Flat Iron flat irons his hair, waxes his forehead and puts on concealer - - shouldn't he be with someone who buys more than cigarettes and Red Bull?
I am also still snorting over the idea that Kristen was a model. Maybe for the cover of Vogue Carrie Bradshaw made about being single and fabulous. He he.
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Could anyone recommend some true crime that isn’t as lurid/sensationalistic as the genre is stereotyped as being? Maybe those aren't the right words. I’ve read The Devil in the White City (about H.H. Holmes and the 1893 World Fair) and Our Guys (about the 1989 Glen Ridge rape) and really liked both, so I’m looking for books in the same vein. Basically, books that aren’t just about the crime itself but something bigger, e.g. the surrounding culture/society.
I’ve heard that Devil’s Knot is pretty decent, but I’m not that interested in the West Memphis Three.
Devil's Knot, as well as Mara Leverett's other book, The Boys on the Tracks, is a fantastic read because she does delve into the corruption in the city/county that plays into the crimes. I have her newest book, which is all about what happened to Jason Baldwin after he was arrested. It's frustrating and sad because so much was wrong there - - but you may not be interested as he was one of the West Memphis Three.
I enjoy Caitlin Rother's true crime books - -she writes narrative nonfiction and she doesn't go for gory or highlighting the violent aspects of the crime, She explores them but moreso the backgrounds and psyche of the offenders.
ETA: Dave Cullen's Columbine was an interesting read for me. Very, very sad that the red flags Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold gave off weren't noticed.
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Jax is on a path to self-improvement by reconciling his friendship with Tom Sandoval, taking his therapy seriously and scheduling a nose job;
Nothing says self-improvement like a nose job! I hope Jax didn't forget his chunky sweater on this mission from the gods.
Seriously . . . this shit could not get any better. Please, Baby Jesus, tell me that StASSi's birthday blowout was filmed. And that we'll get to see Flat Iron Tom flat ironing his hair. Please.
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I love this mess. I can't wait for it to return. The snarking potential is off the charts.
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I'll second those recommendations and add Douglas Preston's The Monster of Florence. Also, John Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven and Robert Kolker's Lost Girls.
Edited to add Errol Morris' A Wilderness of Error.
If you read Errol Morris' Wilderness of Error you need to read Joe McGuinness' Fatal Vision as well. I've read both (also Fatal Justice and The Journalist and the Murderer). What's fascinating to me about the case is that it's gone on for over 40 years - - and that Jeffrey MacDonald is a class A narcissist IMO.
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Jim needs to stop trying to make himself happen.
Tiny Jim doesn't think Amber, formerly of The Cancer, should be hanging around most of these women. Didn't she sign a contract to be on a show with them? Thought you were the world's smallest lawyer, Jim.Both of these things tickled my funny bone so much I can't stop laughing. I thought Melissa and JoeGo were all about promoting themselves but Jim takes the cake (or sprinkle cookies . . . or cannolis). I guess JoeGo will have to settle for being An Angel From God.
I can't see this show surviving without the House of Juicy. There is just nothing of interest happening unless it involves Teresa and/or Joe.
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So the plan was to beat a man to death and execute a dozen others in broad daylight outside and leave a dozen pools of blood but no bodies,
All in a day's work before lunch for SAMCRO!
I don't care about Abel. Please, no more about how fucked up he is. No shit. How could he be any different?
I have no use for Juice either. He's dangerous to basically everyone. Yeah, it's not conspicious AT ALL to go outside completely covered in black to get your Butterfinger and Coke. Whatever. He should kill Gemma while he has the chance but of course he won't. If he's going to trade secrets, why not let someone - - ANYONE - - in on the fact that Gemma killed Tara? He knows he's on borrowed time so take Gemma with him.
Chibs and the Sheriff? No. Just no.
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Lauren Manzo - Self Professed Beast
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What about Sid and Nancy? Great movie with a haunting soundtrack.
Gary Oldman was ridiculously incredible as Sid Vicious. That movie was so sad and painful to watch.
I remember watching a tv movie back in the late 70s called "Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker". It starred Charlene Tilton (Lucy from Dallas) and it scared the bejeebus out of my pre-teen self.
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Not only is Andrea an asshole but she's a stupid asshole to boot. CC-ing someone on a letter is NOT the same as addressing it to them. Someone needs to tell her that cc means "courtesy copy."
The letter Gina sent was relatively mild and not threatening in the least.
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Saw the movie today and I think the movie is superior to the book, which almost never happens. The film handled some of the trickier aspects of the book perfectly and casting was spot on. Pike and Affleck were exactly right for Amy and Nick.
Would not hesitate to recommend this one fully.
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truthaboutluv, here is the original blog post about the Giffin disaster. It's really unbelievable. She is from my hometown but if I ever see her, I may go for the combo spit-in-the-eye/throat-punch manuever. I could go on all day about how blessed she is to be a successful published author (and with movies made from her books) and yet she acts like a completely demented shit over some 1 star reviews. Honestly, if I see a book with nothing but 5 stars reviews I'm suspicious. I think it's normal to have some low reviews. Books are subjective, after all. I can't think of one that EVERYONE universally loved.
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Care to elaborate? I haven't about this and I am particularly interested as I just gave her latest book a 1 star on Amazon because it was so awful.
Uh oh, you'd better watch out!
This happened about 2 years ago. She was bemoaning her oh-so-bad luck at being #2 on the bestseller list and rallying her fan base (including her assistant and her husband) to go to war against those Amazon reviewers who gave her book a low rating. Bad enough, right? One reviewer was harassed, called names, told she should just kill herself and even received death threats (her identity was discovered.) Ms. Giffin's response to this bad behavior? "If the reviewer is getting death threats, she should remove her review."
All this from a one star review and started because Ms. Giffin's husband called the reviewer "psycho" and said a proclaimed avid reader would not just have one review on Amazon, blah, blah, blah. Then Ms. Giffin shared that on her Facebook page and Twitter and the diehard fans went nuts. She did nothing to discourage them, as is clearly evident by her reply above.
For that reason, I will never support her. I will never buy her books, or even check them out of the library, and they will never be featured on my book review site.
ETA: Athena beat me to it! :)
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I haven't cared for a single Jodi Picoult book I've read. There, I said it.
Ever since the whole amazon/ratings issue broke about Emily Giffin, I can't stand that woman. I refuse to read any of her books, I don't care how good they may be.
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Sheesh, did not even realize the sentencing was yesterday (horrific day at work) until I saw a headline this morning and have been reading pages and pages here. Thank you to all the witty posters for your commentary and updates.
I, for one, would watch a Juicy's House show. I know Juicy is a thug and a criminal but I just find the guy entertaining. I don't know why. Clearly my taste is questionable.
Teresa had better get started writing that next cookbook now because they will surely need the money.
Did Andy give the judge his Mazel of the Week?
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what was she doing in that movie?
Isn't that a comment thought for a lot of 80s movies? He he.
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I'm not freaked out by clowns but I was horribly let down by Coven. Didn't even finish the season. I'm not feeling optimistic about this one - - I caught a commercial last night during Sons of Anarchy and it just didn't move me. I was more freaked out by a commercial for that damn Annabelle movie.
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Family Ties did the same thing to Justine Bateman's Mallory Keaton.
I used to be good friends with someone who worked on Family Ties back in the day and he said that Justine Bateman was one of the most vile bitches to ever walk the planet. She was extremely disliked on the set and she burned many bridges - - she didn't do another series for a while after FT ended.
On the other hand, he said that Michael J. Fox was fantastic to work with, as well as Meredith Baxter. Initially, MB was going to be the star of the show. She was the "name" when it started but MJF became the breakout star. Wouldn't have been unusual for MB to take offense but she's been in the biz long enough and is a decent enough person that she realized the popularity only helped the show. In any event, he said that both were very down to earth and considerate people (which I always like to hear about celebs).
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That is one of my biggest gripes with police investigations on TV, and Cold Case does seem to be among the worst offenders.
I think it's a case (no pun intended) where the writers of the show assume the viewers are either complete morons or it's their first attempt at watching a police procedural. Speaking for the majority, WE GET IT. We don't need every single detail spelled out for us. And if you're going to do it, at least have the detectives leave the room and rehash what was said/done privately.
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Not getting the Chibs/sherriff thing at all. This is a guy whose dating life revolves around whores. Have we ever seen him show an interest in women as people, or heard of a past where he did so? Maybe I forgot something. But I don't see how those two connect, more on his side than hers (assuming she is setting up the club).
I am so glad I am not alone on this. I am not shipping Chibs and the sheriff at all. Maybe because I love Chibs myself but I just don't feel it. I don't think he would instantly connect with a cop - - it just feels forced to me.
I was drowsy last night while watching and will need to watch again so maybe I'm missing something but since the Sons are backstabbing and screwing over, oh EVERYONE, wouldn't they have every one of their businesses watched and protected? Would they really leave Diosa wide open like that? You would think retaliation would be a relatively normal occurence for them. Anyhow . . .
I never cared much for Collette but none of those girls deserved to be murdered as a message for Jax and the Sons. It seems like this is only the start though.
I actually liked Jax last night. But maybe that was because he didn't kill anyone.
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Family 8108 was directed by the great Jeannot Szwarc, who also directed the genius episode Forever Blue, about the cop killed in 1968 - - an episode that never fails to affect me and make me teary.
I think Cold Case still holds up well but I tend to get stabby over all the detectives making comments in front of witnesses and suspects like "A blonde headed woman? That sounds like (insert name)," or "It was midnight? (Insert name) didn't mention that fact," etc. Also, the perp is always composed when initially confronted by the detectives but by the 49-50 minute mark suddenly gets wonky and starts confessing.
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The cast of Sex and the City are having trouble breaking out of their rolls. SJP did The Family Stone. She played a very different part well, but I had a hard time not seeing Carrie Bradshaw. Kristin Davis (Charlotte) will forever be that character in my mind, especially since she drew comparisons to herself and her character in many interviews. Why admit that? Kim Cantrell, good luck, she will always be Samantha. Cynthia Nixon has the best shot at doing other roles since she came in with a resume showing her range. But for me they will probably always be the girls from SATC.
I agree. SJP will always be Carrie Bradshaw to me. The same way Chris Noth will always be Big (even though I saw him first as Mike Logan on L&O).
Matthew Broderick will always and forever be Bueller . . Bueller.
Jennifer Grey will always be Baby and Patrick Swayze is Johnny Castle.
JK Simmons will always be Skoda to me first and then Vern from Oz. I couldn't believe good old Dr. Skoda from L&O was a crazy racist killer on Oz. Dean Winters will always be Ryan and then the Mayhem guy. Love it. I always think of Oz when I see Harold Perineau (sp?) too although he was fantastic on Sons of Anarchy.
Speaking of, I can never think of Peg Bundy again now with Katey Sagal. She will always be scary Gemma.
Pretty much the entire cast of Beverly Hills 90210.
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Please don't buy the books - - borrow them from the library. Don't line EG's pockets any more than they have been.